Debt Crisis

NEW DELHI: Panic over high debts of some European nations that led to a bloodbath in the global stock markets last week is exaggerated, as they are unlikely to default, said renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs here on Sunday. He, however, cautioned against the "politically powerful bankers", to avoid a repeat of the global financial crisis that has shaken the world over the past 18 months, leading to large scale unemployment and crippling of many an economy. "I am not too...

ATEHNS: One evening three weeks ago in Kifissia, an affluent garden suburb of Athens, a retired financial adviser and his wife decided to take in one of the delights of summer here, an outdoor movie. They pulled tight the shutters, set the alarm, locked the house and strolled off. Halfway through the movie the alarm company called, and they rushed home to find the alarm immersed in a bucket of water, the shutters jimmied and a safe emptied of jewelry. The speed and...

Four years ago, Neha was very happy that she had purchased a flat with a fantastic view. She had to stretch a bit beyond her means to buy the Rs 1 crore flat. All her salary went into paying the EMIs and they lived on her husband, Satish's salary. Property prices dipped since they moved into the flat but that did not matter as the investment was for a long term. The new house brought in more good news in the form of a baby. Slowly, expenses increased and interest rates began to climb.

FRANKFURT: The eurozone's new year heralds a debt crisis that has alarm bells ringing and markets tracking government plans to tame the growing shortfall. Officials have borrowed heavily to pull the 16-nation zone out of its first recession, and debt levels are set to smash a huge hole in the ceiling set by the European Union in its Stability and Growth Pact. Soaring budget deficits, low growth and banking sector support "are feeding into significantly higher...

WASHINGTON: Greece's international creditors will have no choice but to accept an easing of the terms of Athens' debts, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. "It's inevitable that there is an element of debt restructuring," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at a news conference. The IMF has teamed up with the European Union and the European Central Bank in recent years to lend Greece money repeatedly to save it...

BERLIN: German consumers' outlook for Europe's biggest economy declined sharply in July due to fears the Greek crisis will rumble on in the coming months, a poll found on Wednesday. "The long and difficult struggle to resolve the debt crisis in Greece has kept the country from default for now," market research company GfK said in a statement. "However, this has not allowed German consumers' expectations to take flight but rather led the indicator to fall for...

You can be reasonably sure that you are in a debt trap when your friends do not return your calls or creditors give excuses to your entreaties for more loans. Do not curse them; there may be a debt problem in your life. Remember, your friends did not entertain your requests for more money because they think you cannot repay them. Come on, don't you want to prove them wrong? How would you do it? It depends on how deep you are in debt. If you just slipped into this abyss, it is easy.

ATHENS: Greeks vote in a closely-watched bailout referendum that has divided the nation and could determine its financial future -- as well as that of the government. Here are the key dates in Greece's debt crisis that has rumbled on for five years and could culminate in the country's exit from the eurozone. -- 2009 -- - October: The Greek government of George Papandreou reveals that the national public deficit for 2009 was twice as much as thought -- at 12.7 percent of the...

LONDON: Russia may face a debt crisis similar to the one gripping Greece by 2030 unless the government cuts spending, said Sergei Ulatov , the resident World Bank economist in Moscow. "By 2030, the debt level would be unsustainable like in Greece" if nothing changes, Ulatov said. Finance minister Alexei Kudrin urged the government to cap spending at 4% to stabilise finances and avoid state "paternalism". The budget deficit may narrow to less than 0.5% of gross...

WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve extended a program set up earlier this year to ease strains from the European debt crisis. The program, which was set to expire in January, will now run through Aug. 1, the Fed announced on Tuesday. The Fed is lending dollars to other central banks in exchange for their currencies. The central banks can lend those dollars out to banks in their home countries to ease financial turmoil. The Fed's "swap" program...

LONDON: A survey from the European Commission shows that economic sentiment in the 16 nations that use the euro improved in November despite mounting concerns about the debt load of a number of member countries, most notably Ireland. The European Commission says Monday that its economic sentiment indicator for the eurozone rose to 105.3 from October's 103.8. The increase was bigger than expected. The consensus in the markets was for a more modest...

By Sahil Kapoor The world market was awash with a swarm of gold bugs after the financial crisis of 2008. Gold bugs are advocates of investments in Gold as a safe haven and a guard against financial Armageddon, hyperinflation, currency collapses and geopolitical troubles. A few years ago, gold bugs argued the precious metal was a can't-miss investment given the ultra-loose monetary policies around the world and the prospect of higher inflation. ...

BERLIN: The German government's panel of independent economic advisers favours the creation of a sovereign insolvency mechanism for euro zone states to prevent future crises and says countries should be able to leave the currency bloc as a last resort. In a special report published on Tuesday, the council of five experts known as the "wisemen", said the Greek debt crisis had underscored the urgent need for further reforms to make the euro zone more stable. Alongside...

TOKYO: The euro lost early gains in Asia on Friday after getting a boost from progress in the Greek debt crisis, while the dollar rose against most Asian currencies as investors bet on a US rate hike this year. In Tokyo afternoon trade, the single currency fetched $1.0974 and 135.99 yen, down from $1.0985 and 136.10 yen in New York. The dollar was trading at 123.92 yen, slightly up from 123.90 yen. Spirits were dampened by a report showing Chinese...

ATHENS: Key dates in the Greek crisis since July 13: July 13: Greece reaches agreement with eurozone creditors on terms for a third rescue package after 17 hours of negotiations. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agrees to tough reforms in return for talks on a three-year bailout worth up to 86 billion euros ($93 billion). More than 60 percent of Greeks had rejected such cuts in a July 5 referendum called by Tsipras himself. - EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker rules out Greek...

Will the recent bullish mood on Dalal Street continue? In the last 10 years, benchmark indices — Sensex and Nifty — have gained between 5 per cent and 20 per cent in 10 out of the 13 occasions when the measures have fallen 12-15 per cent. Recently, the Sensex after correcting 13 per cent — between its record high of 30,024.74 on March 4, 2015 and low of 26,307.27 on June 12 — gained 8 per cent. With concerns over the Greece ...

BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says countries that share the euro must show the political will to grow together in the face of the debt crisis . She and other European Union leaders are taking up new proposals, led by Germany and France, for getting a grip on the continent's debt troubles. The proposals "will be about improving competitiveness and at the same time making it clear that we have the political will to grow together. " She says this...

BRUSSELS: European companies say the region's debt crisis risks damaging a fragile economic recovery by hiking costs for businesses to borrow and invest. BusinessEurope, a group representing some 20 million companies, says it doesn't expect unemployment to fall from record highs until employers start hiring again in late 2011. It is calling on European Union leaders to make long-delayed reforms to open up the labor market and shed business barriers across the...

BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is prepared to resign rather than go against his convictions in negotiations on Greece's debt crisis, he said in an interview published Saturday. Asked in the interview with Germany's Spiegel news weekly about the divergences between his tough stance on Athens and the more flexible approach of Chancellor Angela Merkel the veteran politician admitted to "differences of opinion". "That's part of...

BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he would submit a request to Germany's parliament to reopen negotiations on Greece's third bailout with "full conviction", but still believes a temporary Grexit would perhaps be a better option. "We are a step further," Schaeuble told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio on Thursday, after the Greek parliament passed a sweeping package of austerity measures demanded by European...